Author: Paul Gerhardt

Gerhardt, Paulus, son of Christian Gerhardt, burgomaster of Gräfenhaynichen, near Wittenberg, was born at Grafenhaynichen, Mar. 12, 1607. On January 2, 1628, he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg. In the registers of St. Mary's church, Wittenberg, his name appears as a godfather, on July 13, 1641, described still as "studiosus," and he seems to have remained in Wittenberg till at least the end of April, 1642. He appears to have gone to Berlin in 1642 or 1643, and was there for some time (certainly after 1648) a tutor in the house of the advocate Andreas Barthold, whose daughter (Anna Maria, b. May 19, 1622, d. March 5, 1668) became his wife in 1655. During this period he seems to have frequently preached in Berlin. He was appoint… Go to person page >

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Sollt ich meinem Gott nicht singen. P. Gerhardt. [Thanksgiving.] One of Gerhardt's finest hymns, setting forth the eternal love of God in His creation, redemption, and sanctification of us, His kind preservation in all our troubles and crosses, even in our forgetfulness of Him; ending with a prayer thus rendered by Mr. Massie:—

"Grant me grace, 0 God, I pray Thee,
That I may with all my might
Love, and trust Thee, and obey Thee,
All the day and all the night;
And when this brief life is o'er,
Love and praise Thee evermore."

Of it Lauxmann in Koch viii. 333 relates the following:—

"At one of the Pastoral conferences, which the venerable Father of the Faith, Karl Helfferich, of Döffingen in Württemberg, conducted from 1756 to 1785, a great many little complaints were made at table about deficiency of tithes and such like matters. For a while he listened in patience. At length, while still sitting at table, he suddenly began to sing with cheerful voice the last stanza of this hymn. At this those present felt ashamed of their petty complaints, and henceforth the conversation was of more edifying matters."

It is translated into English as:—
1. Shall I not his praise be singing. By Dr. Mills in his Horae Germanicae, 1845, p. 141.
2. Shall I not sing praise to Thee. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855, p. 200; repeated omitting stanzas iii.-vi., viii., as No. 10 in her Chorale Book for England, 1863,
3. I will sing my Maker's praises. A good tr. omitting stanzas vi., viii. contributed by R. Massie to the 1857 ed. of Mercer's Church Psalter & Hymn Book, No. 185, 1864.
4. Can I fail my God to praise. A tr. of stanzas i., iii., iv. by F. C. C, as No. 218 in Dr. Pagenstecher's Collection, 1864.
5. Should I not, in meek adoring. A tr. of stanzas i.-iii. by M. W. Stryker in his Hymns & Verses, 1883, p. 38.
Other translations are:—
(1) ”Can 1 cease, my God, from singing," in Lyra Davidica, 1708, p. 22. (2) "Shan't I sing to my Creator," by J. C. Jacobi, 1732, p. 153. Repeated in the Moravian Hymn Book 1754 to 1886; in the 1789 and later eds. (1886, No. 179), beginning I will sing to my Creator." (3) "Shall I not my God be praising," by J. Kelly, 1867, p. 240. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]
-- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)